This Weblog or "Blog" contains articles, events and opinions that support capital punishment in North Carolina and elsewhere. Author(s) of the contents are exercising their rights to free speech which unfortunately is often stifled or ignored by the media.
Contrary to what you might read or hear in the news, North Carolinians should be proud that an occassional and deserved execution is allowed to proceed.
- Wayne Uber

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Carlos DeLuna: Another False Innocence Claim?

Dudley Sharp

No one can, responsibly, accept what the Liebman/DeLuna report, ”Los Tocayos Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution,” says, without fully fact checking it, as well as evaluating bias.

It is unwise to, blindly, accept any study.

Downright foolish it would be to
blindly accept a study from within a hotly contested public policy debate, when
the study was conducted by an active partisan within that debate.

James Liebman is an active anti death penalty defense attorney.

When reviewing the
previous record of both Liebman and the anti death penalty movement, a healthy
skepticism is required and wise.

What happened when folks took the
time to fact check Liebman's prior opus, "A Broken System"?

This
should be a major issue with Liebman's credibility, today, but I think many in the media
have made it clear that it will not matter, as few are going to fact check this
latest tome, either, or bring up that last one's problems, instead just accepting both on blind faith, as is common with media and anti death penalty claims.

Regarding
credibility, it is astounding that Liebman would allow any references to Rev.
Pickett, in connection to supporting an innocent claim for DeLuna. Pickett has
zero credibility, based upon "The DeLuna Deception: At the Death House Door" Can
Rev. Carroll Pickett be trusted?", below.

Liebman either
didn't fact check Pickett or he didn't care - or some other excuse?
Regardless, it goes to lack of credibility.

But, again, if the media won't fact check, what does Liebman have to
lose by putting Pickett forward?

Any
good anti death penalty defense counsel, as Liebman, or any crusading anti death
penalty journalist, as David Grann, can make a convincing case, absent the
prosecution's case and rebuttal.

The DeLuna case is the perfect storm for anti death penalty folks. Both the
"innocent" and "guilty" parties are dead and an, often, way too eager press plays
defense mouthpiece for an anti death penalty report.

Am I saying that
this newest Liebman report is just another anti death penalty tome whereby the
conclusions can either be easily rebutted or that stronger positions can be made
for guilt, with a thorough review, as was the case with many prior such
cases?

No. But anyone would be a fool not to consider that possibility,
which is why media fact checking is required and is also the reason why media fact
checking may be unlikely.